RACE - I would'nt trade. One learns to cope with the current situation for who knows what the wish may get you. Yeah, I allways wondered what the situation would have been like, if my 31 daughter was normal. But, I allways said "I don't want to know". Once again, bless you all and those that cared and helped our special kids.

These stories bring back painful but wonderful memories to me.My oldest daughter was born with hearing and developemental problems.My secound daughter was born with many heart problems and underwent open heart surgery at 4 days old.She passed away at one month and 21 days old.My third daughter is fine and well and is now 9 years old.My fourth daughter is 17 months and doing exceptionaly well.The only thing is that my new wife was 6 months pregnant with her when my oldest who was 10 passed away from an undetectable heart infection when she was just 10 years old.She would be turning 12 in just over a month.She was my partner on my fiero and it was going to be her 16th birthday present but after she died I lost all ambition to work on it.It wasnt untill this past fall.Now I am working on it slowly mostly due to money problems and hope to have SKEET that was my daughters nickname done in time for Carlisle this year.All I can say is to charish every moment cause you never know what tomarrow may hold.

Sorry to hear about your losses. I just can't imagine being in your shoes.

I hope to meet you at Carlisle this year. I'll be looking for the Skeet car, for sure. It'll be a special ride, I am sure of that.

Best wishes to you from here on out!

Andrew

My oldest is now 5 with high functioning Autism. Never seen it in any of our family history what does run rampid in my family is Cancer

I finally have some pictures of my darling brother to post.
This is Tony at the Special olympics about 10 or 11 years ago,
*edit* Oh yea!! Tony won first place that year in the softball throw

This is him about 3 years ago with my dad posing as outlaws

And this last one was Tony when he was 8 years old. HE has always been one good looking boy

So now you have met my own special man.

Randy

[This message has been edited by 8Ball (edited 02-23-2006).]

My 28 year old son has MS. He has had three or so attacks in the past that has left him with numbness in his feet and the top of his head. He is doing pretty good for now but this MS will never been gone. He also has scoliosis of the spine (curvature). Severe scoliosis has been given he a hard time for a while. When he was in high school he got alopecia aureate but that went away.
And ADD was diagnosed at the age of 7.

He is now attending machinist school and doing pretty good.

We had a second son that only lived about 30 minutes after birth. He dead from potters syndrome

We as parents just never know

------------------

" DRIVE IT LIKE YOU LOVE IT"

I must have missed this previously. This thread brings tears to my eyes. I really admire and appreciate you and everyone else posting here. We all need all the help and support we can get. Sometimes it feels like we are the only ones dealing with this, even though I know otherwise. My daughter Samantha just turned 20 months old and is about 21 lbs. She has had issues since birth with acid reflux, milk and soy intolerance. She has to have special formula that her body can process and digest.

In the midst of the digestional issues, we found out she had neuroblastoma (sp?) cancer near her spine. Since we found out it has been removed. We were lucky and found it early (stage 1) and she has not had to have chemo. She does go in for regular ct's.

About 2 months after the removal, she had a special surgery to her stomach that helps to keep her from refluxing acids into her esophagus and lungs. The short word for it is Fundo. She is now fed primarily through a Mic-Key button that is placed in her stomach. We attach a tube to a pump and pump her food in every 3-4 hours, 45 minutes at a time. We have to, to make sure she gets her calories. She can eat regular food, she just doesn't get enough out of it. So far it seems to be helping, but she still has digestional issues. Tomorrow we go back to Plano so the surgeon can do a checkup on her Mic-Key.

My wife saw a toddler shirt the other day that read "I can eat through my belly piercing, can you?" --kinda made me smile.

take care ya'll
Chris

[This message has been edited by cjgable (edited 02-23-2006).]

We wish the best for you and your little one, cjgable. When you finally get past the really rough parts, you will forget just how hard it was. Not that our problems are the same, but I can barley remember my little one having trouble learning to eat. Now he gets really mad when we we are done feeding him! -and I mean REALLY mad!

Keep them close. No kid loves us like those special kids - and they are not shy about letting us know it.

Cheers to you all-

Andrew

It's been a while since this one was on top.

Thanks to the website skills of our own Formula, the Southern Maryland Down syndrome group has a nice Web Page ( www.angelsforeverup.org ). I wanted to make sure that you are all aware of his donation of time and skill. If you check out the site, you'll see we are having our first "Buddy Walk" this weekend in Waldorf, MD. It's gonna be a good time for all! Details are on the site.

Again, I just wanted to get this to the top in case someone missed the thread or we have new "special" members.

Cheers to you all!

...

[This message has been edited by CommanderKeen (edited 04-06-2007).]

Well done, CommanderKeen! It looks like you did rather well. You did find yourself a beautiful girl.

I wish you well in your deployment. Be sure to let us know how things are going - and THANKS for what you have done and for what you are about to do.

Bump - to keep this one alive for any new members.

Someone mailed this to me yesterday and then posted it on another thread today. Good stuff!!
________________________
Read the story first then click the link to watch the video.

Strongest Dad in the World

[From Sports Illustrated, By Rick Reilly]
I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay
for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots. But compared
with Dick Hoyt, I suck.
Eighty-five times he's pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in
marathons. Eight times he's not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a
wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and
pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars--all in the same day.
Dick's also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back
mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. Makes
taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?
And what has Rick done for his father? Not much--except save his life.
This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was
strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged
and unable to control his limbs. ``He'll be a vegetable the rest of his
life;'' Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was
nine months old. ``Put him in an institution.''
But the Hoyts weren't buying it. They noticed the way Rick's eyes
followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the
engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was
anything to help the boy communicate. ``No way,'' Dick says he was told.

``There's nothing goingon in his brain.'' "Tell him a joke,'' Dick countered. They did.
Ricklaughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain.
Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by
touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to
communicate. First words? ``Go Bruins!'' And after a high school
classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a
charity run for him, Rick pecked out, ``Dad, I want to do that.''
Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described ``porker'' who never ran
more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he
tried. ``Then it was me who was handicapped,'' Dick says. ``I was sore
for two weeks.''
That day changed Rick's life. ``Dad,'' he typed, ``when we were
running,it felt like I wasn't disabled anymore!''
And that sentence changed Dick's life. He became obsessed with giving
Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly
shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.
``No way,'' Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren't quite a
single runner, and they weren't quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few
years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then
they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran
another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the
following year.
Then somebody said, ``Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?''
How's a guy who never learned to swim and hadn't ridden a bike since he
was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick
tried.
Now they've done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour
Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud
getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don't you
think?
Hey, Dick, why not see how you'd do on your own? ``No way,'' he says.

Dick does it purely for ``the awesome feeling'' he gets seeing Rick with
a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.
This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston
Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best
time'? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992--only 35 minutes off the world
record, which, in case you don't keep track of these things, happens to
be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the
time.
``No question about it,'' Rick types. ``My dad is the Father of the
Century.''
And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a
mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries
was 95% clogged. ``If you hadn't been in such great shape,'' one doctor
told him, ``you probably would've died 15 years ago.''
So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other's life.
Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston,
and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always
find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and
compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father's
Day.
That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants
to give him is a gift he can never buy.
``The thing I'd most like,'' Rick types, ``is that my dad would sit in
the chair and I would push him once.''

http://youtube.com/watch?v=WjPrL3n63yg

quote Originally posted by Saxman: Someone mailed this to me yesterday and then posted it on another thread today. Good stuff!! ________________________ Read the story first then click the link to watch the video. Strongest Dad in the World [From Sports Illustrated, By Rick Reilly] I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots. But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck. ]

I'd have to agree with Reilly. Dick puts me to shame also...

------------------
Tim
Red 88 Formula Auto 2.8 100K+ Miles



The problem with political jokes is...they get elected!

Now THAT'S an inspiring story.

I have a younger brother, Bryan, 15, who has a short list of learning-related disabilities, including some hint of Asperger's. He's a bright kid and can memorize just about anything... that he wants to.

He can tell you when just about any major or local city in New Hampshire or Massachusettes was founded, and sometimes by whom. He can tell you the price of paper towels at Hannford versus the price at Wal*Mart and how the latest Filene's-Macy's merger is going; but I'll be darned if he can solve a word problem in math class.

It hasn't slowed him up at all, he manages to stay an honor student with only a little help in math along the way. You probably wouldn't want him to balance your check book, but he'd be the best darn museum curator ever.

I bring him up because his disabilities put him in a specific class of kids. He sits in the same classroom as eveyrone else at his public middle school (now high school), but can't keep a friend. Everytime he makes a friend, another kid reminds that friend that "Bryan's wierd." Which I suppose is true from a teenage perspective. He doesn't like "Yugioh" or "pokemon" or whatever [forgive me] crap kids are into these days. He'd rather read a book about life int he 1800s or go to a local dollar store than even think about learning how to play a video game.

Maybe it's brotherly bias, but a kid that would rather have a Barnes & Noble gift card and a trip to Amish Country instead of an XBox 360 is just fine in my book.

His great failing is the Asperger's. He can't read a facial expression to save his life. He's learned to deal with it in his own way. He knows that sometimes he can't tell how someone is feeling, so he just asks; which is much more endearing than it sounds. Instead of avoiding someone who is frustrated about something, he'll ask: "As you angry because your computer doesn't work?" Which immediately begins a stress relieving discussion And in most cases, even if he knows he doesn't have the faintest idea about what you're doing, he'll offer to help, or ask if there's something he can get you.

Now put him against the kids in his class calling him wierd, and refusing to be his friend because he doesn't know that Charazard beats Jigglypuff with his fire breath if you have the ord of Infinity card and I'd say Bryan stacks up pretty well.

Sure, sometimes I wish I had a "typical brother;" one that wants to play video games, sneak out... a brother that I can make fun of when he brings a girlfriend home... but I definately didn't get the short end of the "brotherly stick."

Right now, Bryan is with Dad, some 30 miles away, checking out a new dollar store that just opened. Speaking of Dads, my dad might not be the "hero" of that last article, but I'd say any dad that works late nights and long weeks to take his son to Amish country (a place my dad would probably rather not be) is a hero in his own right. The same goes for the mother who gives up her career to make sure that her son gets that extra dose of attention he needs to grow up just right.

I say "nuts" to people who say "I can't imagine living with a brother/son/child that has _______________." Because I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

[This message has been edited by 85-GT (edited 08-19-2006).]

I had forgotten all about this thread until the otehr day I seen Saxman on the forum selling an 88. I remembered all the things going on that point in my life and I'm back home home now with my family, and my youngest whom suffers from moderate Autism. I go back and re-read some of the stories about the things that others deal with and move thru and I wonder "how did they hold it together"? Divorce rates are so high among families with disabled children and I know I am blessed to have a wife that has been able to deal with our sons hardships as well as my own personal failings as a parent.

Mom and dad usually do a great job preparing us for life, college, a family but nothing any one can do prepares us for a child with some sort of disability no matter how small. My son is now as normal as any part of my day. Even with autism

Life IS good
Paul

Well, Kale is now 18 months and when I walk in the door after work, he can say, Dad ... up!" How can I not pick him up after that? We have slowed down on the sign language because he is speaking so well. He also helped raise over $15,000 at the last "Buddy Walk" for Down syndrome in April. He is truly an outstanding kid - along with his bro and sis.

Here's a couple of shots of my boy. You will definitely see him at some shows in the coming years. He is my buddy; the best thing to ever happen to me - and our family. (Maybe it's time to enter him is some cutest-kid competitions...)

Bump for anyone who missed this interesting thread (to some) - and for the new members.

Little Kale is not so little any more. He is pulling himself up and making his way up the stairs. He still eats like his ole man - whenever possible!

So, how are the rest of our members with special kids?

Andrew

No kids with special needs, but my wife has MS, that keeps me plenty busy as well as broke. My insurance sucks. Can't seem to get any help from any of the charity organizations either. They say I make too much money to qualify for assistance. Well I have news for them. It would take someone making 250 thousand a year to be able to afford the medication and MRI's that we have to endure. Sometimes I wish we lived in Canada or Austrailia. $3500 for one injection, how can they get away with that?

well im sorry ive never seen this thread before . i have a cousin that has very bad down syndrom but is the smartest little kid i know . he also knows he has down and uses it to his advantage . (that little sucker) his brother died of sids when he was younger its hard to deal with but his 2 older siblings a brother and sister both help him out.

my step daughter may wind up with diabities, her father has very bad case of it but we will deal with that as it comes. it would be nice to see a fund or raffle etc at carlise to help with these special needs kids. they are all special in a great way and are usually smarter and stronger than most will ever know . but it all at times can become very taxing on the parents and family.

i wish the best of luck to all the strong parents out there that have these wonderful children . these are the times to remember they go so fast. i remember when my blood daughter was just being born (feels like yesterday). now on the 4th of october she turns 12 years old. cherish every minute you can before its too late

------------------

COMING SOON: 4.9 complete rebuild with buds outback northstar pistons , delta cams E303 cam , full ported , polished , and flow tested heads and manifolds. rockcrawl's custom chip
86 and 87 fiero database www.geocities.com/cwandall/fiero.html

y'all are some real nice people (i already knew this, but this further affirms it)

luckily my family is free (so far) from anything of this sort, unless you count my 9 year old. hes got a disorder that makes him walk on 4 legs and gives him excessive body hair. he doesnt talk much, but demands a lot of attention. heres a pic:


just a little humor to lighten things up, no offense meant, if any taken...

god bless

The scope that this forum covers is truly awesome! It really rocks!

We have four kids, with our youngest son, Sean, being middle-of-spectrum autistic. He's 8 years old, and although autism throws a family's life upside-down, it has also brought our family so much closer. He loves to go for rides in my 86GT, but I gotta figure out a way to lower the seat belt since he's short! If there's any families out there with autistic children, I would recommend trying theraputic therapy involving interaction with animals. For the past several months, we've been taking Sean to the Theraputic Horsemanship of Hawaii every Saturday, where he's learning to ride a horse. They also teach him how to brush the horse, put on the saddle, etc., and then "unpacking" after his riding lesson is finished. This therapy has done wonders to help with his behavior "challenges," and I understand its also great with kids with many other disabilities like DS, MS, etc.

My thoughts and prayers go out to those with special needs children. In many aspects, I think they, in their own way, have a better view on life than we do!

Aloha!
Tom

Cool to see this thread still going. Well, as for our update. Our youngest has now been diagnosed with
Type 1 diabetes also. Yes, just this past June I discovered it and started her on insulin. She just turned 5.

I think my oldest is happy in a way because she is not the only one with diabetes now. Michelle is adjusting very
well. She had to give up drinking apple juice all the time witch she absolutely loves, she was really ok with it. She told
everyone that she had to stop drinking it, but she can have apple juice when she is low. She is a tough girl!

Within the first week, she started poking her own finger to test her blood sugar and she can push the plunger on the
syringe after I put it in her skin. I really hope that Michelle's being diagnosed is to help her sister Kimberly with dealing
with her diabetes. Hope that makes sense.

Here is a pic, Kimberly is 8 and Michelle 5.

quote Originally posted by JenzGT2: Cool to see this thread still going. Well, as for our update. Our youngest has now been diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes also. Yes, just this past June I discovered it and started her on insulin. She just turned 5. I think my oldest is happy in a way because she is not the only one with diabetes now. Michelle is adjusting very well. She had to give up drinking apple juice all the time witch she absolutely loves, she was really ok with it. She told everyone that she had to stop drinking it, but she can have apple juice when she is low. She is a tough girl! Within the first week, she started poking her own finger to test her blood sugar and she can push the plunger on the syringe after I put it in her skin. I really hope that Michelle's being diagnosed is to help her sister Kimberly with dealing with her diabetes. Hope that makes sense. Here is a pic, Kimberly is 8 and Michelle 5

Those kids look like they have a great time together! There is no therapy like a good brother or sister who understands - and keeps them busy.

Little Kale is in the living room calling me now. "Daaaaaaaaad! Daaaaaaaad!" (I love dat boy...)

well i think i can add to this thread a little.. being a new member i`m sure no one here knows me well heres my story

when i was young my parents always thought i was alergic to something because my nose was always running.. it was as if i had a non stop cold.. and trust me i heard about it from the kids at school.. so it was somehow interpreted that i was allergic to milk and so i was forced to live a milk free lifestyle for about 2-3 years (you`d be suprised what all has milk in it.. any parent of a kid with similar allergies will attest to that) and then in grade 8 i was suddenly stricken with mennengitis.. (of which there are 3 types fungal(very rare) , viral(contagious but not deadly), and bacterial (can be deadly) the last of which being the one that i had. i can only describe it as slurred images and probably one of the worst experiences of my life. i was later told of how i had in fact become very violent while in a semi comatose state.. which i feel bad abotu but according to the doctors really isnt my fault..i eventually recovered.. with the help of family members just liek all of you that have posted here.. and i still dont consider it to have been that serious. simply because it happened to me and i didnt see it from an outside perspective.. but i`ve met friends who have become deaf or have heard stories about families who have lost children(sorry if this is anyone reading i`m really trying to be sensitive about how i word this) and i see how badly other instances have turned out..thanks to people like you i got through it.. but then again to much disgruntlement i was jumped in grade 10.. and then (this is where my story starts to connect together) my nose started running ALOT.. i could literally fill a gatorade bottle in a matter of minutes.. so we then went to an ent surgeon (ear nose and throat) and she analysed the fluid that was dripping from my nose. in every person there is a layer of fluid around your brain which your brain floats in.. this fluid also runs through your spine.. well this is what had been leaking out from my nose for al this time.. the "jumping" had agravated a menigicele (i think thats how you spell it ) which basically meant that i had a portion of my brain hanging in my sinus cavity..now if you dont nkow what a spinal tap is i will explain.. you know how there are bones all up your spine with soft tissue between them? (feel your back and you will feel bumps on your spine ) well between those they stick a needle about the size of a pen into the soft tissue.. to be honest within proabbly 2 years i had so many of them i lost count ..i would venture a guess somewhere in the area of 10.. with one actually being a drain that had to be left in for a month while i was bedridden after my surgery to correct the meningicele.. and the way that i got through it.. family and friedns just liek you guys.. so i want to say thank you to everyone who understands or wants to understand a child that is a little special.. because although i`m relatively fine now.. i got a glimpse of what it was like.. and i was only reminded of how much little kids are special when i was working a birthday at the local movie theatre and there was a little boy who was a little different than the others and i coudl tell he had spent alot of time in the hospital(as i had too) and wondered what i coudl do to help anyone that was in a situation similar or in general kids with disabilites.. my best friend is deaf so i`ve leanred alot about what it takes to overcome communication barries(i still have alot more to learn) so i guess the whole point of me posting this is to say thank you to all the parents and people out there who have ever helped a child ... for those that couldnt say thank you (but i`m sure you knew they would) i want to thank you.. people like you make such a difference...
keep on loving
Ryan
ps.. i know i`m knew but what does everyone think of a charity ride? like we could have it just forum members or maybe something larger and each year we could pick a different chairity or foundation.. i know i`d defiantely be in .. so if you already know of such rides let me know thanks

Keeping this one alive!

BTW, I put a "sub-topic" on OT about negative terms occasionally used for special needs people. Feel free to see what people think at https://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum6/HTML/045936.html .

It would be nice to keep this thread just for sharing our special families, so the opinions and arguments would be more welcome over at the other thread.

Thanks!

(Also, a drive or something for a good cause would be tops in my book. I'd be happy to try to organize something, but I am afraid that we are so spread out that only local events would be successful. I'm up for any suggestions!)

Last December my Kiwanis Club helped sponsor an Aktion Club. Newton is a town with about 16 thousand residents and Kiwanis works with a local Non Profit group called Progress Industries. Progress serves as an orginization to teach work and living skills for disabled clients. They also provide some employment in a sheltered work place and supervised housing.
The Newton Aktion club meets twice a month and has a standard service club set up, with Pres, Sec, Treas, etc. These members get soo much out of their activities, meetings, guest speakers, fundraising, community service you name it. The club stands on it's own. The advisors, like myself, only sugest ideas and help keep the Aktion club from making bad decisions. The Kiwanis clubs donated seed money, but every thing else is entirely up to them. Last week the club had their own "Float' in Newton's Christmas parade. They have donated canned goods to the Salvation Army and are going to help my club with bell ringing for for the SA next month. Last month the Aktion club members outnumbered our Kiwanis club members when it was time to do a local Hyway clean up. Earlier this year they single handedly cleaned up the campgrounds after 20 thousand RAGBRI Bicyclists stopped here in Newton overnight. These club members will take on anything, I'm sometimes embarased that they get more accomplished than my home club does.

Check with your local Kiwanis club to see if there is an Aktion Club in your area. Or better yet join a local Kiwanis club and help them to get an Aktion club started. You will be amaised how rewarding this is for the disabled, the community and for yourself.

Here is some information from Kiwanis International.
http://www.aktionclub.org/aktion/
Aktion Club - A sponsored program of Kiwanis International

And here is the website of my local Kiwanis Family of clubs. I'm the webmashter, this is a work in progress, so I know the site needs improvement.
http://www.newtonkiwanis.org/
Newton Kiwanis - Home
Feel free to PM me if this is of any interest to you. I'll do my best to help out.

------------------
Ol' Paint, 88 Base coupe auto.
Turning white on top, like owner.
Leaks a little, like owner.
Doesn't smoke, unlike owner

Thanks to all. I just read the whole thread for the first time and, well, thanks. The world is not as dark as it seems sometimes, just that not often is the good is graphicly spoken and demonstrated. Wish some of you could have been my parents.

Hey Phaeton, I might be your dad. What's you mom's name?

Glad you got to read this!

Sweet, Hey dad, can I borrow the Fiero tonight? And could you throw a little movie money my way too?? I'll be home on time, really I will.

I don't know if it is appropriate for me to post here but I want to say I have a lot of respect for all of you guys. I am in high school still and don't have kids but my one of my best friends 14 y/o sister has DS. Someone on the first page suggested a Fiero Fundraiser I am in CIncinnati, Ohio and would be more than happy to bring out my 88GT and plenty of people who will donate to a just cause.

My daughter was declared diabetic at 13 months Now she's 22 and a nurse for almost 4 years

It's been a while, and I talked to wiccantoy on the phone tonight so I thought I would bring this one back to the top for the new members.

My boy turned 4 in Feb and is still an incredible kid. He had his tonsils/adenoids removed last month at Walter Reed (and the after-care was great!) and he has never been better.

I'll have to post another pic or two of him in a Fiero soon.

How are the rest of our Fiero family doing these days?

Bump for the new guys...

Good to see you keeping this alive Saxman.

My youngest boy turned 8 last month. He's moderately autistic reading short sentences, doing a little addition and subtraction and speech is coming along nicely. For those of you who may be willingto curse the name "New Jersey" (I was on the list too) I'll be the first to tell you that NJ has some of the best top ranked autism schools in the nation. The taxes suck, housing sucks, driving with jug-handles for left turns sucks. But.... They take care of the disabled children from what I have seen here.

Thank god the military sent me here even though I was kicking and screaming the whole way...

88Ironduke

------------------
Pilots with out maintainers are just pedestrians with a cool jacket and sunglasses.
I.Y.A.M.Y.A.S.

The bond between a parent and a child or children with special needs is stronger than the drive we all feel for self preservation. We love our children with all we are capable .It seems that the greater the need of the children the greater the sacrifice made but the love is the same no matter what the need.I was fortunate to have 5 healthy children,4 of which would do anything for me and their mother.Unfortunately my youngest is under the influence of her husband and we have no way to correct that situation.All I can say is I feel very lucky,just as the people in this thread,to have what my children ( 4 out of 5 isn't bad) give me.Unquestioning love.I expect their first love to be their family,as mine was,and then to their parents.It may have been Fieros that brought this fine group of people together,but somehow I think there may be a stronger bond after this thread has run it's course.I have been on this forum for 7 years and in all that time have never felt better about my friends on this place than I do now!

I'm with ya, Hugh!

Ironduke - glad to hear all is well over there. Let me know when you hit DC again so I can buy you a brew or two.

My wife just became the president of the local Down syndome group. Lots going on around here! There is more info on our group at www.angelsforeverup.org. I'll be updating the site some time soon.

Keep up the great work, everyone. Family first! (Unless you are in the military )

I have one in the family, an aunt. She's about 40 and still slow on social skills but has been working since she was a kid and paying for/maintaining her own house for quite a while now.

The assistant at home depot had a disorder that affected his motor and speech skills, yet he was the only one there who didn't just point you to a section. He actually walked me to and described the products I was interested in.

hey i dont know if this applies but i have dislexia inherited type , but at my school the special ed kids are taking classes with every one that is slightly normaller than they are . no one here makes fun most the time they are our best friends ,they fit in just like the normal kids which im glad to see. they have classes with us eat with us and go to games and parties i dont think the people at my school view them diferently.

Great to hear!